If you are searching for the answers to such questions as why people make unexpected political choices or if the “illiberal democracies” are on the rise in Europe, you can find them in Ivan Krastev’s essay “After Europe”. This renowned political scientist from Bulgaria describes the current state of European society as a metaphorical U-turn in thoughts on globalization and geopolitics, refugee crisis and populism, whereas the latter threatens Europe’s established commitment to human rights and social solidarity.
At the same time, David Goodhart, British journalist, divides people into two groups in his book “The Road to Somewhere”. There are the “Somewheres”, who crave for stability, perceive any change as a loss and are social-conservative and often less-educated, on the one hand; and urban, social-liberal “Anywheres”, who prefer self-realisation over stability and tradition, on the other. Even though “Somewheres” comprise ca. 50 % of the population and “Anywheres” just around 25 % - it’s the “Anywheres” who constitute the majority of the lawmakers among us.
Ivan Krastev
Head of the Centre of Liberal Strategies in Sofia and IWM Permanent Fellow; Author of After Europe and The Light that Failed.
David Goodhart
political scientist, journalist, historian and author of The Road to Somewhere. The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics; former IWM Visiting Fellow
Sylvia Kritzinger
political scientist from Austria, project leader of the Austrian National Election Study (AUTNES), author of Quo vadis, Österreich? Wertewandel zwischen 1990 und 2018.
Thibault Muzergues
Europe programme director at the International Republican Institute, Vienna, author of The Great Class Shift: How New Social Class Structures are Redefining Western Politics.
Moderator: Walter Hämmerle
Chief Editor, Wiener Zeitung
Further details and registration: www.politische-akademie.at
The event is jointly organized by the Political Academy of the Austrian People’s Party and Multilateraler Dialog KAS Vienna. In cooperation with the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, Karl von Vogelsang-Institut, Institut für den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa (IDM), Diplomatische Akademie Wien and the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM).
